Time and Space
by Spring Witch
Summary: Ed and Al meet Winry's look alike while fleeing Germany before WWII. But Winifred isn't from the same time frame. Can she help Ed and Al get back through the Gate and back to the people they love? Ed/Roy and other pairings.


Okay, so I was writing this for a convention fanfiction contest and never got around to finish it. So I suddenly remembered that I had it and decided that I would finish it, so here it is! Originally it was supposed to be G rated and relatively short so that it could be entered in the contest, but now its open season! This will eventually be Ed/Roy, so I hope everyone enjoys it!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any related characters. **

Enjoy!

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**Time and Space**

**Chapter 1**

"Al, hurry it up would you?" a small blond young man called urgently to another boy trailing behind him. "I want to be across the border by dawn!"

"Brother, I'm tired" the younger boy whined a little. "Can't we rest a minute?"

The oldest boy sighed. "Al, it isn't safe here, the place is crawling with soldiers! We have to keep moving."

"I'm sorry Ed; I guess I'm still not used to feeling worn out like this." His brother said softly.

Edward, the older brother, sighed again, but this time with a little more understanding. He knew Alphonse was having a rough time of it. All that time as a tireless suit of armour meant that Al was only now rediscovering the limits of the human body.

"Its okay, Al." Ed told him soothingly. "I know it's been hard for you, but lets try and press on a little further, all right?" he cajoled. "Like I said, it's not safe to stop here in the open."

Al took a deep breath, and nodded grimly. As exhausted as he was, he knew Edward was right; it _wasn't_ safe.

The Elric brothers were fleeing Germany, realising that war was coming. Ed didn't know how far away it was, but he knew it was coming. Having no wish to be apart of it, they packed their meagre belongings and disappeared.

Since Al's arrival in Munich in 1923, the unrest in Germany had become worse. As soon as Al had slipped through the Gate, they had hitched a ride out of town, with Noah's help, with a band of Gypsies, two of whom looked suspiciously like Scar and Lust. They knew their involvement in bringing down the Thule society would not have sat well with some of the locals, so they decided that the best place for them to be was _not_ in Munich, and they headed for Berlin.

Unfortunately, Berlin had recently turned out to be worse, and Ed was beginning to think they should have stayed in Munich. The heart of the rising Nazi part was situated in the capital, and Ed didn't like what he was seeing. Still, they had managed to live peacefully for a few months before things _really_ started to get uncomfortable. Every day more soldiers arrived in the capital, and every day more locals were recruited for the German army. When the neighbour's eighteen year old son was recruited, Ed knew it was time to get out. He'd spoken briefly to the boy before he'd left for the army, and to his disbelief, the young man had seemed to be filled with a fanatical desire to get himself killed for his country, a sentiment Ed could not understand. He hadn't wanted to join the military back home, there was no way he was going to be forced into joining here for a cause he didn't believe in, and he was _not_ about to allow them to take Al. Clearly, the boy next door had been too young to remember the First World War. Not many men were as thrilled as he was about the prospect of serving their country. Not that Ed had seen it either, but Ishbal had been enough to put him off serving his country, thanks very much.

So they had packed up again, and left Berlin in the dead of night, before either or both of them were recruited into a war they wanted no part of. They decided their best bet would be to head towards Belgium, and hope that they wouldn't get caught and hauled back to the capital to serve their 'mandatory service'.

That was three days ago, and now, they were nearing the German/Belgian border. Ed was just as exhausted as Al, only he wasn't about to let on. He just knew that they had to get moving, or get caught by German soldiers as the sky got steadily lighter.

Alphonse interrupted his brother's thoughts. "Ed, can we _please_ stop for just a moment, we have cover now." He asked.

Ed sighed inwardly, but he knew just from looking at Al that he had pushed his younger brother past his limits. "All right Al. Just for a moment though." He told him. Al smiled gratefully and sat under a nearby tree. Relaxing against the trunk, he looked like he was going to drift off. "Al, I said you could rest, not sleep." Ed hissed.

Sleepy eyes opened. "I know, I'm sorry." He said, and sat up a little.

The two brothers opened their provisions pack and began to eat a light meal. They were packing up their sack when Ed heard movement in the bushes, and loud German voices calling to each other. He and Ed dived under the cover of a thicket of bushes and waited for them to pass. Mentally, Ed thanked whoever was listening that new recruits were loud and clumsy. Then suddenly, many things happened at once…

There was a loud 'POP!' right next to Ed's left ear, and he let out a loud yell and scrambled backwards. There, to the left of where he had been, sat a surprised looking girl, dressed in rather unusual clothing. The other thing he noticed about her was that she looked identical to Winry. "Where did you come from?" Ed demanded angrily.

The noise attracted the soldiers, and Ed cursed as he heard them running noisily in their direction. Inwardly cursing, Ed and Al hauled the strange looking girl to her feet at pushed her ahead of them, further into the forest.

Apparently, they weren't fast enough. A bullet whizzed over their heads, and they ducked. Not a very good aim, Ed thought wryly, but even a badly aimed bullet could do some damage.

Ed fervently wished for alchemy as they barrelled through the trees; anything to help them escape the soldiers on their tails. Once upon a time, Ed could have stopped those guys in their tracks with a simple clap of his hands.

Finally, they threw themselves down in to the thick undergrowth of the forest, and waited with bated breath as the soldiers passed them rowdily. Ed wanted to step up and tell them that a deaf man could've heard them coming, but refrained. Getting shot was not on his to do list for the evening.

They lay quietly for what seemed like hours, before Edward finally sat up and turned to the girl. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly. "You almost got us killed back there!"

The girl stared back at him defiantly. _Yep_, Ed thought,_ definitely a Winry thing._ "My name is Winifred Rockbell, Winry for short. And I'm sorry about that, I really am."

"It's okay." Alphonse told her calmly, "But where did you come from? I mean, one minute it was just me and Ed, and the next you were there!"

She didn't answer him right off. Instead, she growled under her breath and muttered. "I am going to _kill_ him when I get home!"

"Uh… kill who exactly?" Ed asked warily, half expecting a wrench to come flying at his head.

"My kid brother, that's who!" she said. "It's his fault I'm even in this mess!" she showed the brothers a small device in her hand. "My brother likes to invent things. They never work of course, but naturally, the one thing that _shouldn't_ work, does!" she cursed inventively, using words that even made Ed wince. "So, what is it?" Ed demanded impatiently.

"It's a time travel device. Stupid kid! Can't get a solar powered microwave to work, but _naturally_ the moron can get a time machine to work!" she took a couple of deep breaths, and then looked up at the brothers. "Where am I?" she asked them.

"Germany, near the Belgian border." Ed replied promptly.

"Ed, I don't think that's what she meant." Al said exasperatedly. "Its 1924." Al told her. "April, 1924 to be exact." He said.

The girl nodded, absorbing the information, and then when slightly pale. "There's a lot of political unrest right now, isn't there?" she asked, but didn't wait for their answer. "Right. Time to go."

Winifred looked down at the device in her hand, and the brothers watched as she fiddled with some dials and buttons. "Grab a hold of me and close your eyes. It's gonna be a bumpy ride for a few seconds."

Wondering if it was the sane thing to do, and not sure whether this Winry look-alike was for real, Ed and Al each took hold of her arms, and were surprised when the light flashed around them. Squeezing their eyes shut, they felt as if they were caught on one of Alfonse Heinrich's out of control rockets, and held on to Winifred tighter.

Suddenly, the spinning stopped, and Winifred's voice said. "Thank God! You two can open your eyes now."

Ed and Al opened their eyes and looked around in confusion. They were in a large shed, surrounded by all sorts of equipment that was entirely new to them. It was like going through the gate all over again, Ed mused. His eyes settled on Winifred, who was reprimanding a young boy whom Ed could only assume was her aforementioned younger brother.

"Okay, Okay! I get it, I'm sorry!" the boy exclaimed, before turning to face Ed and Al. "Who're you?"

Clearly they had some explaining to do...

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I know it's short, but hopefully everyone enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to getting the boys back home! I'm also toying with some other obscure yaoi pairings to put in here, just because I can! Let me know what you think!

Until next time!


End file.
